FEC to court: Reject Bush campaign bid against 'soft money'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Election Commission has asked a court to throw out a lawsuit by President Bush's campaign that seeks to force quick action on complaints against anti-Bush groups spending big donations in the presidential race.
In a court filing made public Friday, the commission told U.S. District Judge James Robertson the Bush campaign won't suffer irreparable harm if its March complaints to the FEC about "soft money" groups aren't resolved before the November election.
The campaign finance laws aren't meant to help candidates avoid "competitive harm," FEC lawyers wrote.
"The Act was designed to protect the public interest — both by maintaining the integrity of the electoral process, and by avoiding the corruption and the appearance of corruption of the government," they wrote. "It was not the purpose of the Act to protect a candidate from public criticism, or from the registration of voters who might support his or her opponent."
FEC lawyers told the judge that even though the campaign seems convinced its complaints "present irrefutable proof of illegal conduct, the issues they raise are complex and fact-intensive, and involve controversial and unsettled legal and constitutional questions."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-10-bush-fec_x.htm